February 9, 2006

One aspect of blogs that I appreciate is the opportunity for dialogue—and not just monologues—that comes through the ability to post comments. However, not everyone uses this opportunity appropriately. Here is a comment that was just added today to a post I originally made back in September. The anonymous poster wrote:

"You Guys are idiots, The pastor was shown of no wrong doing and never received a penny. This site is a cult"

There are some lessons that can be learned here about what not to do in a post. Here is my response that includes some of those pointers:

Anonymous (if you feel strongly about your opinions why not be willing to stand behind them), thanks for posting your thoughts. However, you are mistaken on several levels.

First, I am not sure who the "guys" are that are "idiots." It is just me (singular) here. Even then, calling me names is a logical fallacy that does not prove your point and is very unethical. Please try and find more appropriate ways to express yourself.

Next, your statement calling this website "a cult" is extremely odd. A website can be cultic but not actually a cult. Additionally, you offer no justification for your statement. Just because we disagree does not mean I am cultic. Please work on supporting your claims.

Third, you claim that the pastor "never received a penny." Go back and read the ABC News report. In fact, he received 500,000 pennies (or $5,000) from the conman while some people in the church lost their life savings.

Finally, you said it was shown he did nothing wrong. But he clearly misled the people in the church. In addition to taking money from the conman, he told the people that it was God's will they give to build the new building. Since it did not happen it was clearly not God's will. Either Dopson lied or he misunderstood, but either way he was wrong to say it was God's will.

Please feel free to respond, but do so in a more appropriate manner and offer some proof for your claims.

I look forward to the opportunities to discuss news and issues from a Christian perspective for the good of the Kingdom. However, please be polite and support your claims. It is important that all that we say or write (even on a blog) is Christ-like. I will make mistakes and be wrong, but please correct me in a loving and logical way and I will try to do the same for you. Communication is vital for creating communion and community so let us make sure we are careful what we communicate.